Charging your dSLR while using it?

[Chiuy]

Are there any equipment that lets you charge your dSLR while using it? I have a 60D to be precise and I do a lot of time-lapse. Unfortunately the battery doesn't last long enough (need for 18-24 hours) for my time-lapse project to be finish so I was wondering if there are ways to charge your dSLR without switching the battery out? I have considered the battery grip, but I don't think that will do.
Is there a way to just plug your camera into an AC/DC adapter when there's a wall mount available? And what are my other options if there isn't a wall plug?

 

[runnah]

They make special adaptors.

60d ac adaptor B H Photo Video

 

[KmH]

See page 272 of your Canon 60D users manual.

 

[wfooshee]

Turn off the image review on the LCD. Don't let it display the picture after it trips the shutter. That by itself should get you a couple of days of clicking on the intervalometer.

 

[Buckster]

What Runnah said. Get an AC adapter for it. It's a dummy battery that goes in where the battery goes, and the other end plugs into a wall socket.

If you need to use it away from a regular wall socket (out in the field), you'll need something like an inverter for a vehicle, or a stand alone generator.

ETA: By the way, you don't need the genuine adapter from the camera manufacturer, which will cost WAY too much. Aftermarket adapters from other manufacturers are cheap and work perfectly fine. Look on Amazon and Ebay, and you'll find them from as little as $10 bucks. I think I paid about $12 for mine a few years back, and it works just fine.

 

[TCampbell]

The Canon ACK-E6 A/C power adapter does what you want. Canon lists this at a ludicrous price of $180 but most stores sell it for $120.

See: Canon AC Adapter Kit ACK-E6 3351B002 B H Photo Video

There are also a number of 3rd party A/C adapters for substantially less, but I STRONGLY recommend that you read the reviews. Many of these are garbage and I certainly wouldn't put one in my camera. But some others look like they are probably reliable.

I use the genuine Canon adapter... but it was included with my camera (when you buy a 60Da it's included because the camera is sold for astrophotography and we'd never make it through the night on batteries... using an AC adapter is normal.

You can also get just the camera insert (Canon DR-E6) and power it off your own power source (I think it wants an 8v input). That would mean you could pick up an 8v DC battery for use out in the field.

 

[Buckster]

4.5 out of 5 stars for the Neewer at under $15: Amazon.com Neewer AC Power Supply Adapter Replacement for ACK-E6 for CANON EOS 5D Mark II 7D 60D Camera Power Adapters Camera Photo

4.5 out of 5 stars for the genuine Canon at about $120: Amazon.com Canon AC Adapter Kit ACK-E6AC Camera Power Adapters Camera Photo

 

[TCampbell]

4.5 out of 5 stars for the Neewer at under $15: Amazon.com Neewer AC Power Supply Adapter Replacement for ACK-E6 for CANON EOS 5D Mark II 7D 60D Camera Power Adapters Camera Photo

4.5 out of 5 stars for the genuine Canon at about $120: Amazon.com Canon AC Adapter Kit ACK-E6AC Camera Power Adapters Camera Photo

I look at more than the rating based on number of stars... I specifically click the "5-star" reviews and read through a few pages of them. Often you can see short 1-liner reviews where the reviewers use poor grammar & writing and the reviews look highly suspicious (there are TONS of fake reviews on the internet.)

Then I specifically look for the 1-star reviews to see what they say. They're usually more specific & detailed (far less likely to be a fake review). I also look for common complaints that show up over and over.

Then I look at the 4-star reviews. Paid/fake reviews will typically always give a 5-star rating, so you're less likely to find fake reviews if you read the 4-star reviews.

THEN I switch over to look at the Canon branded adapter (I think the price is crazy steep) and see what they see. The 5-star reviews for the Canon read much differently compared to the 5-star reviews of the knock-offs. It makes it pretty easy to spot the knock-offs because you get a feel for what sort of detail people will leave in a "real" review (which are typically lacking in any specific detail other than to claim it "works great" and "couldn't be happier" and "cheap price".)

The Canon adapter has only a single 1-star review... that reviewer complained that they had difficulty closing the battery door and are afraid that they'll break the battery door because Canon didn't use thin enough wire. (there are 4 "comments" on that review telling the reviewer that they needed to open the small rubber flap on the side of the battery compartment specifically made to route said wire.)

That's what I mean by being very careful to read the reviews. It's easy to pump up a star rating with fake reviews... but when you compare products and reviews it starts to become easy to spot the reviews that are most likely fake.

 

[Buckster]

I can't say that I went into that much depth when I went through reviews to choose the one I got. I do read them, not just count the stars, and I tend to read both the 5 stars and the 1 stars to see what the general thoughts or specific problems might be. Nothing really stood out to me on these adapters though.

To my mind they're pretty straightforward: Power plug and cord (hard to mess that up) go into a AC to DC converter (pretty hard to screw that up too), then DC voltage at the amperage rating required for the unit comes out through another cable (not much mystery there) to a dummy battery that fits the camera compartment and lines up the contacts correctly (again, not hard to achieve). I've spent a lifetime working with electronics, building and repairing circuits, etc., though, so that might bias me on this.

Reviews are kind of a funny thing. You can choose your best piece of gear, and find reviews from people who will swear up and down that it's the worst piece of crap they ever dealt with, and that you should avoid it at all costs. And, I think you mentioned, that sometimes it could very well be the competition rating it down, or even the manufacturer surreptitiously rating it up, which just skews things even more.

Sometimes, it seems that all you can really do is go by the fact that 95% of people who've bought and used something are satisfied with it, and only a small percentage aren't, perhaps just because it was damaged in shipping or user error, or they bought the wrong one and it doesn't fit their needs or got shipped the wrong one, or whatever.

In any case, the cheapo one I bought does seem to work fine for me, every time I use it, and it was dirt cheap, especially compared to the cost of the genuine Canon adapter.

Are there any manufacturers/models in particular that were so bad from the reviews you read that you would warn folks specifically against them?